The electronics industry continues to rely upon advances in semiconductor technology to realize higher-function devices in more compact areas. For many applications, realizing higher-functioning devices requires integrating a large number of electronic devices into a single silicon wafer. As the number of electronic devices per given area of the silicon wafer increases, the manufacturing process becomes more difficult.
The packaging of an IC device is increasingly playing a role in its ultimate performance. For example, in mobile devices (i.e., mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, remote controls, etc), bare WLCSP die may be used in their assembly. WLCSP components save valuable space in the mobile device. After assembly, in some example processes, customers encapsulate these WLCSP devices by injection molding or casing. This manual post-processing of the WLCSP may result in the device damage.
To accommodate the lack of space in the mobile devices, the WLCSP wafer is ground on its backside to a prescribed thickness. The grind process induces stress into the substrate, which may weaken and embrittle it. Further, the back-side edges of the bare die have sharp edges which are susceptible to damage from contact with assembly tooling.
There is a need for a WLCSP assembly process which can address the challenges raised by the needs of mobile applications.